January 13, 2013

Jaleel Canty

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Jaleel Canty is a thorough young man, and that carries over to every aspect of his life.

Which is why the Lansing Everett senior football Dream Team all-stater did more than Google a college coach's name when he was offered a scholarship.

"I had done a lot of research as far as not just about going to play football, but about schools," he said. "It takes awhile to learn about a program."

So when Canty orally committed to play for Butch Jones last summer, he was equally committing to the University of Cincinnati.

Canty was disappointed -- but not devastated -- when Jones left for Tennessee. Canty still was going to Cincinnati, or so he thought.

Here we are, 25 days from signing day, and Canty no longer has a scholarship.

What happened? Tommy Tuberville happened.

Tuberville was at Texas Tech until he shocked everyone and took the Cincinnati job.

At that time, Canty, a wide receiver and defensive back, was speaking with Cincinnati director of recruiting services Mike Waugh on a regular basis. "I talked to him right before the dead period, and I was expecting a call the day they could call us again," Canty said. "I never received one, so I called the coach and he was like, 'Everything's good, everything's fine.'

"He told me he would be able to call me back. He never called back. I called him a few nights ago, and he was like: 'We just finalized our staff. Give me a call tomorrow, and I'll let you know what's going on.' "

Waugh shattered Canty's world late Thursday night.

"I ended up calling him, and he was like, 'Tuberville had brought in his recruits and the athletic director said he didn't have to honor anyone's scholarship,' " Canty said. "And that was pretty much it."

Don't forget, Canty had offers from Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Ball State and Akron, and had turned them all down when he accepted the Cincinnati offer.

The NCAA forbids college coaches from talking about unsigned recruits, so Tuberville is unable to explain his actions, or those of athletic director Whit Babcock, who gave him the go-ahead to dump the kids who had put their futures in the hands of Cincinnati administrators.

Canty isn't alone in this mess -- there is a laundry list of other Cincinnati recruits whose offers Tuberville rescinded.

Everett coach Marcelle Carruthers is furious about the way the staff treated Canty. "I haven't heard from any of those coaches," he said. "For them to just make a comment without letting the coach know what is going on, I'm not very fond of that."

Neither is Canty, who is spending the weekend scrambling for a school.

"Signing day is in a few weeks, and I'm out here and there's nothing open," he said. "Now I'm stuck trying to look for options in a short period of time. I just want to be able to play football."

Tuberville was named Cincinnati coach Dec. 8, and it took him more than a month to let Canty know he was not going to honor his commitment. That is unforgivable.

"The thing that might have disappointed me the most is that I had to call them to figure it out," Canty said, "instead of them calling me to let me know they don't have a scholarship anymore."

Any high school coach in Michigan who lets Tuberville speak to one of his recruits does so at his own peril.